Backing up files can reduce the risk of a catastrophic failure. Many people completely overlook the possibility of failure because they feel it cannot happen to them. However, it does indeed happen to people more often than you realize. This guide will take you through a potential disaster and help you understand things you can do to help prevent them from happening to you.

Imagine that you have just invested weeks of work into designing the perfect online shopping site. Suddenly, for no apparent reason, your site goes offline. The technicians at your hosting company report that the hard drive has failed on your server and all of your data was lost. As you can see, it is quite easy to lose everything without warning. You can prevent this from happening to you by retaining multiple backups of your data. For best practices, ensure that you create backups at least once per week. An even better solution is to make backups whenever you make changes to your site, but this is not always viable.

To ensure you have multiple locations of your backups, use an online storage solution.You can find hundreds of web sites which offer free online storage by simply doing an online search. If your data has confidential information, consider using a paid service. The paid service will provide you with better security making it a worthwhile endeavor.

You should also keep a copy of your backups on your local computer whenever possible. This provides you with faster access and can make the restoration process much simpler should the need ever arise. It is important to remember if you have private data on your computer unwanted eyes may gain access to it if you are not properly protected. The main point you should keep in mind is that your data should have multiple backup locations. While chances are not high that all of your backups will become compromised or corrupt, it is easy to lose track of which web site you use or your login credentials.

One of the most favorable hosting features is automatic backup software. Check with your hosting provider to see if they offer this features. It can save you hours of time restoring files, if a problem comes up. Best of all, this option is very cost effective.

Whenever you make changes to your website, be sure to make a backup of your “htaccess” file. If there is a problem, restoring this file can generally repair it. This file plays a vital role in your website and can make all the difference if a hacker gains access to your files.

Whenever you make backups, ensure that you separate the files within a folder by using the date. If you need to roll back changes, you can find the exact date you started having problems and simply restore from that point. This trick also gives you the benefit of being able to delete obsolete backups.

Taking a few extra minutes to back up your files and changes can make a huge difference with website problems. Use this guide to establish a set of backup protocols to ensure you have the best chances of success.